Existing unlimited data plans’ days are numbered, Verizon says

Verizon sees a way out of unlimited data plans through its upcoming shared plans, Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said at a JP Morgan conference on Wednesday. Shammo said that as customers with unlimited access to 3G networks start to move to 4G, they will be forced to move to the new shared data plans.

Verizon and AT&T have both dropped major hints that each network provider plans to start offering shared data plans, where multiple devices can draw from a single pool of data that is paid for in one big chunk (Verizon announced it would drop unlimited data plans for individual phones in May 2011). Not only would multi-device families possibly gain from this, but multiple-device owners would too; for instance, an iPad and an iPhone belonging to one person could be allowed to share a few gigabytes between them.

But from the sound of Shammo's comments, customers currently subscribed to unlimited data plans won't be able to benefit from sharing without switching to tiered plans. Likewise, Shammo implied that customers switching from unlimited 3G plans to 4G LTE ones will be forced to start using tiered plans. "A lot of our 3G base is unlimited," Shammo said. "As they start to migrate to 4G, they will have to come off unlimited and go into the data share plan. And that is beneficial for us for many reasons, obviously."

Shammo also noted that shared data plans have the potential to increase activations of smartphones in general—that is, if a family is paying for a sizeable chunk of data, shrewd heads-of-household everywhere aren't going to let those bytes go to waste just because Junior doesn't have a cell phone yet. Presumably, the math will still work out so that several phones sharing data is a financial boon for Verizon.

Shammo said that the Verizon plans are set to debut in mid-summer. In response to a request for comment, a Verizon representative said the company "had nothing to add."

Casey Johnston / Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics.

107 Reader Comments

Any word on when they will force the 3G to 4G tiered data? My buddy upgraded from 3G to a Nexus and kept unlimited with 4G, at least until his next upgrade 2 years from now. I am waiting for a better phone to come out to upgrade, but losing unlimited might be worse than a slightly older droid model.

I think the model is: Not losing money on unlimited cap plans, but can make more money on limiting bandwidth. But be thankful; over here in Australia, I don't think any provider offers unlimited bandwidth. Not that I worry too much at the moment, I barely use any of my 2.5gb. But once I get on to 4g ....

So problem one is that media content providers are wanting to go to a media-less supply model where you stream from the cloud, and all the while, the size of said content is growing (SD-->HD-->SuperHD?). Problem two is all our bandwidth providers are saying that we are consuming too much data, and we need to be curtailed. We are effectively being squeezed from both ends with no hope of common sense on the horizon. I really hope Google's gigabit plan succeeds and throws convention on its ear, cause right now the consumer is taking a pounding.

Verizon told their customers back in May 2011 that they would be grandfathered into an unlimited data plan and keep it. Future customers would be placed on tiered plans. Now Verizon has found it convenient to go back on their word and ultimately force their customers to swallow what I find to be grossly expensive data plans. $30 for 2GB vs unlimited for $30??? There is no comparison. How about offering 5GB or 10GB for $30. That would be a less difficult pill to swallow. At least AT&T to date has kept their integrity to this point. When does this nickel and diming end?

If I can't stay on unlimited data, I'm not going to pay for data. I suspect a lot of people will do the same; paying $3 for wifi access at the few places without free wifi would quickly become cheaper.

Shared data plans are totally useless for me (bachelor, parents couldn't care less about smartphones), whereas when I travel 2GB is a easy mark. (As is 4GB, if it's a very long trip.)

Prepaid is where it's at, folks. I just left Verizon after 14 years for Virgin before this news and couldn't be happier. With the loss of grandfathered unlimited data there is no longer a point in paying $80+ a month.

Begs the question, however: How long can Sprint keep up its unlimited everything?

Which proves absolutely, hands-down, that this 4G advertising nonsense is simply a way to drive up how much people pay every month. They push 4G hard, and proof you should go with them. But go with them, and get a major drain on your bank account, or don't bother using your data plan much.

It's time for hardware critics to stop slamming gear that doesn't burn through your monthly allotment in a matter of days. So what if a phone or tablet is 3G? It's probably saving you a lot of money!

I really don't understand what these letters stand for in this context. SD to me is an SD card (Secure Digital), and HD is a Hard drive. Are you implying that an HD is a large SD? And that increasing the size of an HD makes a Super HD?

I want to call you crazy, but I am hoping I just haven't heard of the correct meaning of these abbreviations.

I really don't understand what these letters stand for in this context. SD to me is an SD card (Secure Digital), and HD is a Hard drive. Are you implying that an HD is a large SD? And that increasing the size of an HD makes a Super HD?

I want to call you crazy, but I am hoping I just haven't heard of the correct meaning of these abbreviations.

Ok seriously who the heck uses that much data on a phone or even a tablet? I'm in IT and my commute from The City to work is 20 mins walking, 30 mins Caltrain and 30 mins shuttle, one way. That's 2 hours 40 mins of absolute streaming of music every day, not to mention when I have to RDP to fix stuff. I use between 80-400MB per month. What are you people doing? Running Windows Updates through tethered connections or something?!

I wonder what big selling device with LTE is coming in the summer that prompted Verizon to make this change? I'll ask Siri, she may know.

If I could promote this comment, I would.

(Except for that its coming this fall, probably end of September, and Apple is going to start manufacturing in June because they're going to need about 80-100M of these devices for the holiday quarter, and another 60-80M of them for the quarter after)

So on topic, I won't switch to 4G until VZW starts upgrading towers. We all pay them out the wazoo and they squander our payments on Dog knows what. All I know is that I have 3G coverage everywhere here in The City, including tunnels on mass transit, and the 4G devices I've been testing drop signal constantly.

Maybe I'm misreading this article, but it seems to imply that the combination of shared voice/text plans and individual data plans is going away once the shared data plans are introduced. Otherwise you could still keep unlimited when upgrading from 3G to 4G.

So, if I'm understanding the article correctly, then if you want to have unlimited data on 4G and you're on a shared voice plan, make sure to upgrade before the shared data plans are rolled out so you'll be grandfathered in.

What the hell, Jackattack. Second article today where I have to say +1. I, too, am in IT. And barely use over 150mb. 150mb was when I had a Samsung Galaxy S. Accidently had a rage quit with that phone (it met an untimely death being thrown at a wall), so for the moment I am using a Nokia e71. I rarely hit 30mb. What are users doing?! There is only so much facebooking you can do haha

Ok seriously who the heck uses that much data on a phone or even a tablet? I'm in IT and my commute from The City to work is 20 mins walking, 30 mins Caltrain and 30 mins shuttle, one way. That's 2 hours 40 mins of absolute streaming of music every day, not to mention when I have to RDP to fix stuff. I use between 80-400MB per month. What are you people doing? Running Windows Updates through tethered connections or something?!

So? If you have a 20 day work month how is the quality of 1-2 Kbps music?

What the hell, Jackattack. Second article today where I have to say +1. I, too, am in IT. And barely use over 150mb. 150mb was when I had a Samsung Galaxy S. Accidently had a rage quit with that phone (it met an untimely death being thrown at a wall), so for the moment I am using a Nokia e71. I rarely hit 30mb. What are users doing?! There is only so much facebooking you can do haha

Ok seriously who the heck uses that much data on a phone or even a tablet? I'm in IT and my commute from The City to work is 20 mins walking, 30 mins Caltrain and 30 mins shuttle, one way. That's 2 hours 40 mins of absolute streaming of music every day, not to mention when I have to RDP to fix stuff. I use between 80-400MB per month. What are you people doing? Running Windows Updates through tethered connections or something?!

So? If you have a 20 day work month how is the quality of 1-2 Kbps music?

I was wondering the same thing, but it really should be 2 kB/s, or 16 kbps. Either way, that's horrible. Even using baseline 128kbps streaming for a 20-day month, you're looking at over 3GB for music streaming alone. something doesn't add up here...

Ok seriously who the heck uses that much data on a phone or even a tablet? I'm in IT and my commute from The City to work is 20 mins walking, 30 mins Caltrain and 30 mins shuttle, one way. That's 2 hours 40 mins of absolute streaming of music every day, not to mention when I have to RDP to fix stuff. I use between 80-400MB per month. What are you people doing? Running Windows Updates through tethered connections or something?!

My commute by train is about 45 minutes each way. I usually use Pandora in the morning commute and Netflix in the afternoon commute. Sometimes my commute is 90 minutes depending on which train station I'm going to. I also walk to lunch, so that's another hour spent walking/eating. When walking I usually listen to Pandora or Tune-In Radio... Sometimes i-Heart Radio. But mostly Pandora.

If I drive, I also use Pandora while driving. I also use my phone as GPS when I travel. According to AT&T, I've been consuming on average about 6 gigs month on the high end and 2 gigs a month on the low end. I do zero tethering. It's basically Pandora and Netflix. Netflix will consume about 250-300MB per 45 minute show.

Prepaid is where it's at, folks. I just left Verizon after 14 years for Virgin before this news and couldn't be happier. With the loss of grandfathered unlimited data there is no longer a point in paying $80+ a month.

Begs the question, however: How long can Sprint keep up its unlimited everything?

Indeed. This is just one more reason why I'm ditching contracts, subsidized phones, and the big carriers in a few months. It makes more sense to buy unlocked devices and go with T-Mobile's $30 Monthly4G plan or a Straight Talk plan. With T-Mobile you get 100 min, unlimited text, and unlimited data, with the first 5GB @ 4G speeds Over the course of 2 years, you're talking $720, much cheaper than anything AT&T or Verizon will sell you on contract.

thomasfortherage wrote:What the hell, Jackattack. Second article today where I have to say +1. I, too, am in IT. And barely use over 150mb. 150mb was when I had a Samsung Galaxy S. Accidently had a rage quit with that phone (it met an untimely death being thrown at a wall), so for the moment I am using a Nokia e71. I rarely hit 30mb. What are users doing?! There is only so much facebooking you can do haha

Ok seriously who the heck uses that much data on a phone or even a tablet? I'm in IT and my commute from The City to work is 20 mins walking, 30 mins Caltrain and 30 mins shuttle, one way. That's 2 hours 40 mins of absolute streaming of music every day, not to mention when I have to RDP to fix stuff. I use between 80-400MB per month. What are you people doing? Running Windows Updates through tethered connections or something?!

So? If you have a 20 day work month how is the quality of 1-2 Kbps music?

I was wondering the same thing, but it really should be 2 kB/s, or 16 kbps. Either way, that's horrible. Even using baseline 128kbps streaming for a 20-day month, you're looking at over 3GB for music streaming alone. something doesn't add up here...

My mistake, I knew something was off in my calculation. Messed up KB and kb

16kbps is some pretty crappy audio though... And his "80 mb low" goes down to like 4kbps. Maybe he's "streaming" off local storage

Ok seriously who the heck uses that much data on a phone or even a tablet? I'm in IT and my commute from The City to work is 20 mins walking, 30 mins Caltrain and 30 mins shuttle, one way. That's 2 hours 40 mins of absolute streaming of music every day, not to mention when I have to RDP to fix stuff. I use between 80-400MB per month. What are you people doing? Running Windows Updates through tethered connections or something?!

So? If you have a 20 day work month how is the quality of 1-2 Kbps music?

I was wondering the same thing, but it really should be 2 kB/s, or 16 kbps. Either way, that's horrible. Even using baseline 128kbps streaming for a 20-day month, you're looking at over 3GB for music streaming alone. something doesn't add up here...

My mistake, I knew something was off in my calculation. Messed up KB and kb

16kbps is some pretty crappy audio though... And his "80 mb low" goes down to like 4kbps. Maybe he's "streaming" off local storage

I've been with Verizon since they were AirTouch. This new attitude regarding their customers has had the thought of switching carriers bounce through my head for the first time in all those years. Through a combination of streaming music and sending files as part of my job, my monthly usage regularly dances on either side of the 2GB mark. I'm not going to deal with having to worry about overage charges, nor finding near the end of the month that I can't send a critical file at a critical moment without incurring them. That's another stressor I don't need, and I already pay Verizon plenty of money every month.

This kind of squeeze-more-money-at-every-turn attitude is the reason I cut the cord from my cable company. They've lost my business. If Verizon keeps this up or finds a way to force me into a capped plan, they may be next.

Any word on when they will force the 3G to 4G tiered data? My buddy upgraded from 3G to a Nexus and kept unlimited with 4G, at least until his next upgrade 2 years from now. I am waiting for a better phone to come out to upgrade, but losing unlimited might be worse than a slightly older droid model.

Verizon hasn't said when this will happen. Just "mid-summer". Nice and vague.

I've got a sinking feeling they're doing the 30-day notice crap: "You will be moved to a 2GB tiered plan at the end of your billing cycle unless you want to pay more..." Sunsetting the 3G Unlimited plan is what they're after, but it's already unavailable to new subscribers, so what else could they mean? They already amended the terms of service to echo AT&T's move that if they change your data plan separate of the rest of your contract, it's not a material change of service that allows one to waive Early Termination Fees. (Gee... thanks big red.)

I'm sorry, but "pay the same or more" for worse service doesn't cotton well with me. They do it, I'm gone... but then again that's the idea: smartphones and apps are a premium experience. The post paid phone business in the United States is all about making people pay more for less service, since after this announcement, AT&T will keep enough of a pace behind Verizon's announcement to join the cash grab with one minor difference that they cling onto so anyone crying "consious parallelism" is basically told to pay or leave.

Speaking entirely for myself, I don't need data on my phone that damn bad. My life on social networks just isn't interesting enough to care. I'll just get a feature phone and be done with the whole mess. (Digital Hermitism... I'm starting a movement. Plenty of tin foil hats to go around.)

thomasfortherage wrote:What the hell, Jackattack. Second article today where I have to say +1. I, too, am in IT. And barely use over 150mb. 150mb was when I had a Samsung Galaxy S. Accidently had a rage quit with that phone (it met an untimely death being thrown at a wall), so for the moment I am using a Nokia e71. I rarely hit 30mb. What are users doing?! There is only so much facebooking you can do haha

You mean you don't hit your data cap in <10 mins? /s

Not sure if sarcasm, mocking ..?

I was agreeing with you actually. I was just mocking the people who assume that if they have fast wireless speeds they'll use it all as soon as their data cycle renews.

So customers clearly like having an unlimited option, and the market solution is...

Sprint.

Like Sinclair, I was with Verizon since the Airtouch days and their customer service has been rolling downhill since. About a couple years ago they finally and completely pissed me off and I went with Sprint, saved a bunch of money, get a real person on the phone to talk and am completely happy... at least now that I have my (free) Sprint femtocell. Verizon's solution to crappy indoor coverage was "go outside."

As a Verizon customer, with two smart phones (iOS and Android) on the unlimited plan, I will be finding another network when my contract comes up. Between this and the ending of new every two, I have no reason anymore to stay on Verizon anymore after being a customer for 7 years.

If I can't stay on unlimited data, I'm not going to pay for data. I suspect a lot of people will do the same; paying $3 for wifi access at the few places without free wifi would quickly become cheaper.

Shared data plans are totally useless for me (bachelor, parents couldn't care less about smartphones), whereas when I travel 2GB is a easy mark. (As is 4GB, if it's a very long trip.)

Problem is, they require a data plan to use a smartphone on their network. You'll need to go back to a dumbphone.

How is that different from book publishers? Coincidentally, all major carriers have similar tiers and phone/voice rates?

I added unlimited w VZ in July w my feature phone as they guaranteed I'd be grandfathered - got my Nexus in Dec. That meant I paid 5.5 months of unused unlimited because of their GUARANTEE. Guess it was worthless. I only use about 1 gb now... but paid for future growth. We camp a lot, and wanted unlimited for kids Netlix on the road.

I really hope that Sprint keeps its unlimited data plan. I plan to switch to Sprint if T-Mobile does not support the iPhone 5 and if Sprint keeps its unlimited plan.. I've held out long enough!

(Otherwise, T-Mobile is awesome for their excellent customer support, and they don't cap+charge, they just cap+throttle, which is infinitely better in my opinion.) At least you should have the option to cap+charge vs. cap+throttle.

AT&T's plan is ridiculous unless you were grandfathered in to unlimited data.. they charge you $20/month for 300MB and then $10 for EACH 300MB used over that. It seems like Verizon is following in AT&T's footsteps.